6 Most Inviting Towns In Arizona
Arizona, one of the most visited states in the US, is home to world-renowned natural landmarks like the Grand Canyon, and human-made attractions like Route 66. Motorcyclists and families alike recognize Winslow, the historic town along the Mother Road, for its laid-back, welcoming attitude and attractions like the Standin' on the Corner Foundation, a public park. Alpine, Payson, and Tubac offer quick access to the mountainous region of the state, each with a different personality.
Alpine feels like the warm hug of a cozy Swiss village within the surrounding high-mountain lakes and pine forests of the San Francisco River valley. Payson is a vibrant mid-state community in the breathtaking scenery of "The Heart of Arizona” with western roots and an annual rodeo. Having grown from a 1752 Spanish Presidio, Tubac is a premier cultural destination with colorful streets and the historic Presidio State Park with ruins of the earliest Spanish Presidio Site in Arizona.
Alpine
Snug up against the iconic Coronado Trail National Scenic Byway (U.S. 191), Alpine is definitely one of the state's cutest towns. This lonely, twisting road from Springerville to Clifton, the nation's curviest federal highway, is exciting for drivers and full of opportunities for fantastic shots. Ringed by forested mountains, Alpine reminisces of a cozy Swiss village within the surrounding high-mountain lakes and pine forests of the San Francisco River valley. Offering outdoors for every taste of adventure or if relaxing is your top priority, downtown features a handful of inviting businesses to grab a burger, a beer, and some bait, where simplicity only magnifies the allure of an idyll on a summer getaway.
Rightfully named, the tiny mountain town stands out along Arizona's largely barren landscape as a one-of-a-kind getaway in every season, like in the pleasant springtime without crowds and inviting places like Bear Wallow Café for a memorable slab of homemade pie. Just south on the outskirts, Luna Lake attracts summertime vacationers for refreshing sights from the city, offering anglers a healthy population of rainbow and cutthroat trout as well as two great campgrounds just north. A dreamy outdoor slice, visitors can enjoy nearby hiking and biking trails, picnic tables, and a tackle shop, while the two seasonal campgrounds offer communing with nature like the resident bald eagle. Tucked away into the White Mountains, the Big Lake is some 17 miles north, where springtime wildflowers thrive along the vast banks for strolls, views, and serenity.
Bisbee
Bisbee, the artsy hub of the region, is surely one of the state’s most inviting towns, with something exciting around each corner. From museums and galleries to craft beer and mine tours, local music, and antique shops, Bisbee's roots date back to silver, copper, and gold mining through the late 1800s and early 1900s. Officially incorporated in 1902, it's impossible not to fall in love with its spectacular artistic spirit and incredible local history. Thriving from the early days of mining in the Mule Mountains, one of the country's most significant mineral sites, visitors can enjoy a century-old Copper Queen Mine on a hard-hat tour, 1,500 feet underground, with a knowledgeable guide.
Warren Ballpark is a real touchstone, home to high school sports leagues and a true testament to one of America’s favorite pastimes, hosting everything from state-held events to collegiate games. Erie Street in Bisbee invites you on a stroll back in the 1950s when it was a separate entity called Lowell, integrated later with reminders of seemingly abandoned vehicles and buildings, a photogenically frozen in time place. The whole town feels antiquated with its historic architecture, like the mega-popular Bisbee Breakfast Club, and colorful buildings, including Belleza Gallery, while other notable relics include Lavender Pit Mine and the Virile Copper Miner Statue.
Payson
This vibrant mid-state community prides itself on local hospitality and welcomes tourists to experience American values, traditions, and beautiful natural attractions that can only be found here in the Rim Country. The land around the Mogollon Rim comprises an impressive 7,300-foot-high plateau composed of different rock types from the Precambrian era, some 5,000 years ago. Offering countless ways to explore and take in its beauty, visitors can enjoy Woods Canyon Lake Recreation over a day on the water with a rod, swimming and kayaking, as well as hiking and biking, or just lounging on the vast shore.
Peeking from Mogollon Rim, Payson beckons adventurers with mountain trails, sparkling lakes, and scenic spots for a photoshoot or family picnic, like the Tonto Natural Bridge which kids enjoy exploring. From fishing and hiking in the breathtaking scenery known as "The Heart of Arizona,” Payson pays homage to its western roots with an annual rodeo, as well as many themed shops and restaurants along the town’s Main Street District, like the mega-popular Buffalo Bar & Grill. Just south, Green Valley Park is an event hub, while Cypress Trail is a popular hike, and Mazatzal Hotel & Casino has nationwide fans.
Tubac
Tubac, where art meets history, in between the Tumacacori and Santa Rita mountain ranges, is a spectacular town to discover for every group's taste of a getaway. From holistic health and spa treatments to wine tastings and art classes, minutes away, nature fans will find world-renowned birding, hiking, and biking trails. Having grown from a 1752 Spanish Presidio into a premier cultural destination in the state, visitors can see its evolution, from Spanish colonials and Mexicans to Native American Indian groups, at historic Presidio State Park with ruins of the earliest Spanish Presidio Site in Arizona.
Tubac, where memories are made, is a doorway into Arizona’s rich history and culture at Tumacacori National Historical Park. Offering an astonishing array of colorful businesses like premium galleries, unique shopping, fine art, and dining, don't miss the Clay Hands or the notable Tubac Center of the Arts, with various exhibits on the town’s artistic heritage, before settling for a bite at Shelby's Bistro. The small town of 1,375 shares its love for golfing at Tubac Golf Resort, a prestigious AAA Four-Diamond-rated property with 27 gorgeous holes.
Willcox
The sleepy innocence of this town is stark against the region's fame for producing 74 percent of Arizona's wine grapes, and the Chiricahua National Monument is a scenic 36-mile drive southeast. Revealingly called the Land of Standing Up Rocks, this vast "garden" of pinnacles, spires, and hoodoos calls upon adventurers with hiking trails, scenic shots, and picnics to absorb the powerful testament to time of land that holds cultural and spiritual significance for the Chiricahua Apache. Granted American Viticultural Area status in 2016, Wilcox is at the center of Arizona’s wine industry. Families are welcome to the sweeping ranchlands with grazing cattle, the last remaining amid the bounty of new vineyards.
Wilcox is an open door to the distinctive wine-growing region of vineyards and surrounding wineries, with many tasting rooms open right in town, while downtown Wilcox is home to historic buildings all along Railroad Park, a green space with statues for strolls. The Rex Allen Arizona Cowboy Museum of Fame celebrates the life of Rex Allen, the last of the singing cowboys. Don't miss Willcox Cowboy Hall, and, 20 miles west, Amerind Museum invites you to learn about America’s first peoples from the last Ice Age to the present in a building tucked within the Texas Canyon, so you can step out to the soaring boulders.
Winslow
This Navajo County town, home to under 10,000 people, is a long-time favorite stop along Route 66, first for railroad travelers, then motorcyclists. It is now recognized among families for its welcoming attitude toward curious drivers on a hunt for Mother Road landmarks. This classic Arizona town is so laidback that it is often cross-referenced with the Eagles' hit song “Take It Easy.” Don't miss the unique monuments that capitalize on the song’s multi-decade fame at the public park, Standin' on the Corner Foundation, featuring a hotel, murals, and statues for pop culture fans. In the same block, the Old Trails Museum offers life chronicles of American Indians and Western pioneers. Wilcox, once a railroad town, is extremely acculturated with all the tourists and its deep roots in Native American history.
Stark against Arizona's often rugged charms, the historic hacienda-style masterpiece La Posada is one of the finest trackside hotels designed by Mary Jane Colter for the Santa Fe Railroad. Breathing an air of more elegant times, it welcomes with its red-tiled roof, public gardens, and graceful arches, as well as Ponderosa pine beds. Boasting former guests like Amelia Earhart, Clark Gable, Will Rogers, and Jane Russell, the Turquoise Room, an on-site restaurant, is one of the finest in the whole Four Corners region. Just north, Homolovi State Park features walking trails and archaeological sites with ancient petroglyphs left by the Hopi people, who called the area home prior to AD 1400.
Arizona, the land of vast outdoor spaces for exciting adventures accessible to all, is home to warm, friendly, and quite gracious locals. Bisbee is an artsy hub with excitement around each corner and tours of the century-old Copper Queen Mine, 1,500 feet underground. These small towns, all different but with a shared identity of what makes Arizona such a great, vastly diverse state, invite you on a respite from bustling metropolitan areas.
Get away from the gambling scene and into a tranquil atmosphere full of opportunities for adventure. Case and point: the sleepy, innocent Willcox is in the heart of the region, producing 74 percent of Arizona's wine grapes, and the Chiricahua National Monument is a scenic 36-mile drive southeast.
